VSN Presents: S96 VHL Awards

[Pifferfish 597]

(Credit: @ace_five_)

 

Howdy folks, sorry about the delay but we are finally here. Welcome to the awards show for S96!!! Congrats to all the nominees and winners right off the top, we all have waited enough, so an end to the jibber jabber and let's get started.

 

 

 

Edited December 18 by Pifferfish

[Pifferfish 597]

Victory Cup

Regular Season Champions

 

 MOSCOW MENACE

@Spartan  

First up we have the Victory Cup. Awarded to the team with the best record in the regular season. This award felt decided very early on after we saw how defensively dominant this team could be despite a perceived weakness in net. This makes two VCs in a row for Spartan on his quest to dethrone Bana as the GOAT, just like another 150 or so seasons more? In all seriousness what an accomplishment and a testament to great management by Spartan. Congrats to Moscow on their 8th Victory Cup!

[Pifferfish 597]

Continental Cup

VHL Champions

 

 Vancouver Wolves  

@Frank

Next we look at the actual winner of the coveted Continental Cup. For some the debate on best Vancouver GM of all-time is quite the close affair but I think this cup may be the thing that cements Frank’s legacy. Exactly 10 seasons after their previous championship Vancouver managed to best @Alex's Dynamo in a very close series. All four wins for the Wolves came by merely a one goal margin. Also, S89 saw Davos beat Vancouver in the finals 4-2, so revenge certainly fueled this Front Office and fan base. As far as players go, I especially think Riley Martin @Smarch deserves a huge shoutout for his 11 point performance in the finals, almost good for 2 per game. Overall, it was a team effort and the fans of Vancouver spent the last few weeks having fun parading and celebrating the franchise’s 9th Continental Cup (don’t forget the pre-relocation two of Quebec City). 

[Spartan 4,531]

2 minutes ago, Pifferfish said:

Spartan on his quest to dethrone Bana as the GOAT

[Pifferfish 597]

Alexander Beketov Trophy

VHL Assists Leader

 

 Jacob Stone

@scoop

83 assists

Most goals require either a pass or a rebound left for the skater who finishes the job, but let's not forget those heroes that let their teammates get the glory and enable the best offenses in the league to click at peak efficiency. Jacob Stone put together a great campaign in which he matched Ruutu’s @jRuutu assist total from last season. The retirement tour proved mightily successful for Stone as he attempted to etch his name in the VHL History books before the league passed him by. We will remember you now Stone, probably because of a future trivia question, but still. Congratulations.

Honorable Mentions: Jillian Woods @jacobcarson877 79 | Maverick Goncalves @leandrofg 77 | Spanish Moon Moth @Renomitsu 74.

[Pifferfish 597]

Kevin Brooks Trophy

VHL Goals Leader

 

 Severus Targaryen

@Banackock

56 goals

Once again we match the S95 winner’s exact total with 56 goals on the season. After a career in Seattle, Severus finally moved on to Riga via a preseason trade. His goal scoring ability was put on display plenty of times in his career before, but in this season more than before as he hits a new career high. Many questioned how Severus would perform in Riga with another great Center in Axle Gunner @Steve there but the dual threat down the middle proved to slow neither player down. Congratulations to Severus.

Honorable Mentions: Harry Callahan @dstevensonjr 55 | Jarmo Ruutu @jRuutu 52 | David Rashford @Knight 49.

 

[Pifferfish 597]

Mike Szatkowski Trophy

VHL Points Leader

 

 Spanish Moon Moth

@Renomitsu

115 points

Finally, some deviation from last year’s awards in terms of the totals. Moon Moth has found their rhythm in years 4 and 5 of their career. Spanish managed a whopping 41 goals and 74 assists this season. We get to see the seemingly rare occurrence of the Szatkowski winner (or at least one of them) being neither the Brooks or Beketov Trophy recipient. The last time this was true was in S88 with Ronan Lavelle’s (@Arce) first Szatkowski. Good company to be named with, in my opinion. Congratulations to Moon Moth on the award, and continue being great.

Honorable Mentions: Severus Targayen @Banackock 113 | Maverick Goncalves @leandrofg 112 | Jarmo Ruutu @jRuutu 110.

[Pifferfish 597]

Greg Clegane Trophy

VHL GAA Leader

 

 Merome Dilson

@MexicanCow123

2.23 GAA

Another successful trot into the sunset for a pending retiree in Dilson with the Clegane win. For the first time in a long VHL career he managed to lead the league in goals against average. Dilson already has a Shaw and Campbell in his trophy cabinet at home and I am sure he is happy to add at least a third piece of hardware to that collection. This season saw an incredibly close race for the win, but in the end, the veteran Dilson came out on top.

Honorable Mentions: Spider Panda @Ricer13 2.27 | Joseph Reed @BrutalBoost 2.28 | Giorgiy Costanzov @Mongoose87 2.37
 

[Pifferfish 597]

@ace_five_just in case you didnt see the mention bc i forgot it at first but added it later in an edit. oops.

[Pifferfish 597]

Christian Stolzchweiger Trophy

VHL Top Rookie

 

Nominees:

 

 D Samsayz I-Smell @CaptainSB -

20 G | 34 A | 54 P | -45 | 40 Hits | 171 SB

 

 W Steve French @Seabass -

27 G | 26 A | 53 P | -66 | 433 Shots

 

 G Spider Panda @Ricer13 -

64 GP | 45-15-3 | .924 SV% | 2.27 GAA | 9 SO

 

 D Ahsoka Tano @Aimee  -

8 G | 49 A | 57 P | -7 | 96 Hits | 233 SB 

 

Lots of great nominees here but sadly for two of them, their case is minimized by a clearly superior performance from Tano. Tano leads this group of 1st year players in points and plus/minus while also providing more defensive upside with their hitting and shot blocking ability. If not for a trade deadline move heavily cutting into their playing time and production, we may have seen a bigger push for Tano in the voting, but unfortunately those late season setbacks and a stellar performance in net from Spider Panda may prove too much to overcome. Panda led the VHL in shutouts, was number seven in save percentage, and was second in wins and GAA amongst all goalies in the league enroute to his Wranglers winning their conference’s top seed.

 

Your winner…
 

Spoiler

 Spider Panda

@Ricer13

(Voting: Panda via unanimous decision)

 

Edited December 18 by Pifferfish

[Pifferfish 597]

Dustin Funk Trophy

VHL Most Improved Player

 

Nominees:

 

 W Miner vHLer @Rhynex Entertainment -

15 G | 47 A | 62 P | +43

 

 W Konstyantyn Shevchenko @der meister -

35 G | 39 A | 74 P | -20 | 235 HITS

 

 W Riley Martin @Smarch -

41 G | 58 A | 99 P | +29 | 240 HITS

 

 D Jillian Woods @jacobcarson877 -

25 G | 79 A | 104 P | +57 | 96 Hits | 144 SB 

 

Wow, this time last season who would have expected all these guys to breakout? Quite the deserving candidates here and lets hope it continues instead of being the Jonathan Cheechoo story! Now let’s look individually at the nominees. vHLer improved his point total by 35 and his defensive efforts with major strides in plus minus and hitting to boot. Shevchenko saw his point total over double with a 38 point jump despite seeing a reduction in shooting percentage. The biggest growth to mention in the plus minus from a -71 to a -20 despite being on a still very weak team. Martin saw a lesser 30 point increase than his offensive counterparts, but that increase put him only a point shy of the century mark with him also getting his two way game online by playing the puck carrier more aggressively this season. Last up is Woods who took over the role that Bocage had last season, managing the exact same 104 points. That's good for a whopping 46 point jump. Jillian also saw a huge boost in plus/minus from a -3 in S95. One could argue this offensive focus reduced the defensive presence of the young defender, but it worked well for Moscow as they had the best goal differential in the VHL.

 

Your winner…

 

Spoiler

 Jillian Woods

@jacobcarson877

(Voting: Woods via unanimous decision)

 

[Pifferfish 597]

Scott Boulet Trophy

VHL Best Two-Way Forward

 

Nominees:

 

 C Severus Targaryen @Banackock -

56 G | 57 A | 113 P | +39 | 290 HITS | 40 SB

 

 C Axle Gunner @Steve -

45 G | 60 A | 105 P | +30 | 275 HITS | 34 SB

 

 W Savaisk Tzesar @comrade cat -

35 G | 42 A | 77 P | +31 | 340 HITS | 60 SB

 W Harry Callahan @dstevensonjr -

55 G | 52 A | 107 P | +29 | 247 HITS | 24 SB

 

Forwards often get credited for their offensive abilities but defense is important too (coming from a guy with a goalie player). For some quick analysis: Targaryen almost repeats his S95 performance with increases in the points and plus/minus. Gunner sadly gets a bit outshined by Severus in most of these categories but still has fantastic numbers. Tzesar is a very interesting case as he boasts the strongest purely defensive numbers of this group but offers the least offensive production of the nominees. Callahan was a goal shy of Severus in the Brooks race but also trails him somewhat heavily on the defensive side here. 

 

Your winner…
 

Spoiler

 Severus Targaryen

@Banackock

(Voting: Targaryen 7 | Tzesar 1 | Callahan 1 )

 

[Pifferfish 597]

Alexander Valiq Trophy

VHL Best Offensive Defenseman

 

Nominees:

 

D Mark Calaway @Beketov-

28 G | 69 A | 97 P | +39 | 287 S | 8 GWG

 

D Jacob Stone @scoop -

23 G | 83 A | 106 P | +33 | 375 S | 3 GWG

 

D Jillian Woods @jacobcarson877 -

25 G | 79 A | 104 P | +57 | 276 S | 2 GWG

 

A modern hockey league has to feature a few fast skating puck movers on the blue line to keep the games super exciting. Once again this award is contested by Stone, a member of the Menace, and another wildcard player in the league, just like in S95. Calaway was clutch with 8 game winners and leading this crew in goals. Stone was a rebound apple merchant with a blistering 375 shots taken but only 23 goals. Still, his thunderous shot managed to give his teammates the opportunity to convert and that got him Beketov honors. Woods had a breakout campaign, edging Bocage @Grape as the go to D in Moscow, at least in terms of offensive usage, with a very balanced offensive performance this season.

 

Your winner…
 

Spoiler

 Jillian Woods

@jacobcarson877

(Voting: Woods 6 | Stone 3)

 

Edited December 18 by Pifferfish

[Pifferfish 597]

@Beketov, @jacobcarson877, and @scoop sorry i messed up listing the pings for the above award.

 

[Pifferfish 597]

@comrade cat sorry my man, i know you wanted that Boulet. I think just the other guys had enough more offense to pull ahead.

[comrade cat 303]

1 minute ago, Pifferfish said:

@comrade cat sorry my man, i know you wanted that Boulet. I think just the other guys had enough more offense to pull ahead.

I’m happy to have at least been nominated the other candidates had much stronger arguments 

[Pifferfish 597]

Jake Wylde Trophy

VHL Best Defensive Defenseman

 

Nominees:

 

 D Obuz Schneider Canet du Bocage @Grape -

90 P | +50 | 236 HITS | 137 SB

 

 D Jacob Stone @scoop -

106 P | +33 | 213 HITS | 189 SB

 

 D Callum Gary Yannick Janser @Daniel Janser -

83 P | +48 | 256 HITS | 155 SB

 

 D Tommy Sleeves @dasboot -

45 P | -61 | 411 HITS | 272 SB

 

Let’s not abandon that old school hockey where our defenders hit hard and put their bodies on the line to keep puck from even threatening their goaltenders. Lots of strong cases this season as some of the hardest hitting players in the league are lined up for the voters. Three of the four nominees this year were in the voting in S95 with Stone fighting for the repeat win. 

 

Your winner…
 

Spoiler

 Jacob Stone

@scoop

(Voting: Stone 6 | Janser 2 | Sleeves 1 )

 

[Pifferfish 597]

Sterling Labatte Trophy

VHL Best Defenseman

 

Nominees:

 

 D Jacob Stone @scoop -

23 G | 83 A | 106 P | +33 | 213 HITS | 189 SB

 

 D Obuz Schneider Canet du Bocage @Grape -

26 G | 64 A | 90 P | +50 | 236 HITS | 137 SB

 

 D Mark Calaway @Beketov -

28 G | 69 A | 97 P | +39 | 175 HITS | 159 SB

 D Callum Gary Yannick Janser @Daniel Janser -

16 G | 67 A | 83 P | +48 | 256 HITS | 155 SB

 

Now we will smash both of the previous awards together and find the overall best defenseman in the VHL. This award is arguably the most coveted for defensemen as it requires a duality of focus on the ice. You cannot let one part of your game create sacrifices in the other. These candidates all made at least an appearance in one of the previous two lists. However, I think we all notice one particular name appearing on both.

 

Your winner…
 

Spoiler

 Jacob Stone

@scoop

(Voting: Stone via unanimous decision)

 

[Pifferfish 597]

Aidan Shaw Trophy

VHL Best Goaltender

 

Nominees:

 

 G Merome Dilson @MexicanCow123 -

53 GP | 36-15-2 | .928 SV% | 2.23 GAA | 2 SO

 

 G Spider Panda @Ricer13 -

64 GP | 45-15-3 | .924 SV% | 2.27 GAA | 9 SO

 

 G Olober Syko @Spartan  -

59 GP | 28-28-3 | .932 SV% | 2.42 GAA | 6 SO

 

 G 170Ws @rory -

64 GP | 37-23-4 | .929 SV% | 2.47 GAA | 6 SO

 

Ahhh the goalies. The anchors of any strong defensive team in the VHL. Dilson had a strong season but lacks the shutouts and game played of other nominees. Panda had a heck of a rookie campaign and led the league in shutouts, but he has the worst SV% of this grouping. Syko is a bit of a strange case due to the record and games played being potential issues. Those are easily explained away by the fact he was traded mid season and he does boast the best save percentage of the group. His case does become even stronger when you consider the fact 4 of his 6 shutouts came in just 20 GPs with Vancouver. He also had a sub 2 GAA (1.95) with the Wolves. 170Ws had a pretty solid season, being a strong middle ground of all the previous nominees.

Your winner…
 

Spoiler

 Olober Syko

@Spartan

(Voting: Syko 5 | Panda 2 | Dilson 1 | 170Ws 1 )

 

[Pifferfish 597]

We are in the home stretch now, just need a quick little break to stretch and eat. See y'all again at about 5:30pm or sooner for our last 7 or so postings.

[Spartan 4,531]

We giving VSN breaks now??

[Spartan 4,531]

 

man he wasn't kidding

[scoop 3,447]

1 hour ago, Pifferfish said:

We will remember you now Stone, probably because of a future trivia question, but still. Congratulations.

Hopefully that trivia question isn't "Who is the only three-time All-VHL First Team recipient not in the Hall of Fame?"

[Pifferfish 597]

David Knight Trophy
VHL Best General Manager

Nominees:

 Euron Leonidas @Spartan -
56-11-5 | 117 points | 306 GF | 169 GA | +137 Diff

 Zef Goncalves @leandrofg -
52-16-4 | 108 points | 266 GF | 170 GA | +96 Diff

 Alexandre Leduc @Lemorse7 -
49-17-6 | 104 points | 260 GF | 180 GA | +80 Diff

 Alex Johnston @Alex -
50-19-3 | 103 points | 237 GF | 170 GA | +67 Diff

 Frank Chadwick @Frank -
48-17-7 | 103 points | 256 GF | 180 GA | +76 Diff

 Vince Wong @STZ -
45-23-4 | 94 points | 232 GF | 172 GA | +60 Diff

 Blake Campbell @Banackock -
43-22-7 | 93 points | 241 GF | 181 GA | +60 Diff

Jesus guys, did we nominate every GM with a pulse for this one? I'm not going to break down every single one of these nominees or their moves, just a couple quick hits. Leonidas obviously boasts the best regular season record once again and finds a way to maximize a couple 600 TPE goalies to the least GAs in the VHL. Zef made a couple of preseason moves which saw Calgary bring in Thor Reingaard @N0HBDY, Benjamin Abenduct @Schnee, and FISTED ANALLY BY A CIRCUS MONKEY Analfist @STZ (who was later moved at the deadline for Bobby Bob @Baby Boomer). Leduc brought in Mark Calaway @Beketov and Severus Targaryen @Banackock, who have both seen their names nominated for multiple awards so far, before S96 got under way. Alex managed his cap well and nabbed Merome Dilson via Free Agency while also getting players like Owen Lazaro @traphag and Mina @Baozi before the season and Joseph Dubois @Dubois at the trade deadline. Last set of moves I'll mention are from Chadwick who was very active in S96. The Wolves swapped an aging Lazaro for Matteo Stefano @mmrs617. They then leveraged Vidarsson @KaleebtheMighty and Calaway into two first round picks that later became Erik Thorvaldsson @Tetricide. Other moves include adding the likes of King Kisslinger @Kisslinger and the deadline acquisition of Olober Syko @Spartan . That trade, as we all know, heavily influenced a rule change!

Your winner…

 

Spoiler

 Zef Goncalves 
 @leandrofg
(Voting:  Goncalves 7 | Chadwick 2 ) 

 

[Pifferfish 597]

13 minutes ago, Spartan said:

 

man he wasn't kidding

hey, i did not fall asleep. i just took a minute to find the GM list to add the first names to all of them lol